Friday, October 30, 2009

1959

The last year of the 50s saw a decline in the number of sci-fi offerings -- down from the peak in 1958. The golden era was winding down, but far from finished. This year's sci-fi films were mostly B films by small independents following fairly safe formula plots.

And so ended an amazing golden decade of science fiction films. The number of films would be far fewer in the 60s. Audiences would come to expect more elaborate sets and special effects, such that the 50s style of army-surplus electronics and rubber monster suits would just not cut it any longer.
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12 comments:

I have very much enjoyed reading your blog about sci-fi movies. I remember seeing a lot of these in the theater. My mom gave me thirty cents (my weekly allowance), and I went to the Saturday matinee. Twenty five cents to get in and five cents for candy. Anyway here’s one you may have missed. It’s called The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959). It’s certainly not a B-movie. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, Charlie013

Charlie,Glad you like the site. Yes, I'm familiar with The World, The Flesh and The Devil. I'm saving that one, and a bunch like it, for a separate study of Nuclear Angst films. There have been quite a few of them which didn't seem to qualify as sci-fi, but did feature the theme of nuclear armageddon, (before, during or after). I'll be getting to those later.

Please help me to recall the movie title where the guy in a boardroom scene walks over to the window and then causes a plane in flight to explode through mental telepathy. This one has baffled me for years. I'll be indebted to you for this answer. Thanks,

Steve,Sounds like you're describing a small scene in The Brain From Planet Arous, 1957. John Agar stars as scientist Steve who gets possessed by the evil criminal brain (from planet Arous) named Gor. SteveGor does, at one point, demonstrate his power to a room full of generals and suits, by going to a window and willing an airliner (a Lockheed Constellation (model), if I recall correctly) to explode. I didn't include that detail in my quick synopsis as it was a small point to the plot. Check it out.

As for being indebted, click on some of my page's ads, look around their websites a bit. I get a buck for it. :-)

I saw a movie in 1962 or 3 that opened with the view of a clock... everyone on earth was gone, and the camera looks out on to the street below to see robots with rays coming out of their visors destroying everything I was 8, it was a B/W matinee anyone have a clue? I think 'day' was in the title?

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This site is an ongoing project to watch and review classic science fiction movies. New reviews are added roughly every week.I welcome comments, but this feature has to be moderated to stop spam. Please be patient.